


The Royal Judges

by WrittenNovelty



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Universe, Dadster, During Canon, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Male Chara (Undertale), Minor Character Death, Nonbinary Frisk (Undertale), Papyrus (Undertale) Knows More Than He Lets On, Papyrus (Undertale) Remembers Resets, Post-Canon, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Pre-Canon, Sans (Undertale) Remembers Resets, Undertale Monsters on the Surface, Undertale Saves and Resets, Undertale Spoilers, undertale - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25599970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrittenNovelty/pseuds/WrittenNovelty
Summary: The Judge was a sacred position in Monster culture. It was up to them to keep monster-kind safe from humans and corrupt monsters. They could see through your very being and judge you with no bias dictating their final jurisdiction. Every judge possessed both abilities into one and usually got a title off of their most prominent one.Fast forward to the day two skeletal twins were born with this sacred power, for the first time ever in recorded history. Sans and Papyrus, titled "First Belief" and "Final Hope" work in secret to keep the monsters safe.When their friends figure this out after reaching the surface, they demand the story from the two who reluctantly agree to tell them about it.Aka I suck at summaries, and this is about Sans and Papyrus becoming the "Royal Judges."
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What's this? New Undertale fanfic in 2020?
> 
> Hey everyone! This is my first fanfic on Ao3, so any tips on tagging would be great! It's also my first fic in a long time period. So feel free to point out any mistakes, give me some writing tips, and help me in general. It's been such a long time, and I'm excited to try again. Enjoy!

A large crowd was gathered around a stage in a park filled with tables and food. Frisk weaved their way through the crowd, ducking under monsters and humans alike to get to their family's table. Undyne greeted them by picking them up and giving them a nice noogie. They laughed before being put down, sticking their tongue out at Undyne.

She gasped in fake offense before smiling at them, “Hey punk! Glad to see you made it!” “Hi, Undyne! Of course I made it, I live with mom and dad after all!”

“I-I think sh-she meant it’s s-surprising to see y-you out of school.” Alphys smiled and patted Frisk on the shoulder in greeting. “Oh! Well, mom convinced the school to let us have the day off to celebrate the monsters' freedom. It’s been half a year now, so this speech was long overdue.” “Y-yeah, it really w-was. But it was h-hard for Asgore t-to get all the legal d-documents out o-of the way. S-so it makes s-sense why it’s so late.”

Toriel walked up to the group of three, holding a pie in her hands while giving them a warm smile. “Hello dears, it’s lovely to see you here.” She set the pie down on the table before turning her smile on the two love birds. “Lady Toriel-” “Toriel will be just fine.” “-it’s nice to see you again too.” Undyne gave her a toothy smile.

A voice broke out behind Toriel, “ _Pie_ see we’re not too late then.”

“Sans!”-Papyrus glared at his brother and stomped the ground- “We’ve barely even seen them for two seconds and you’re already making puns!” Sans snickered to himself, “That was a good one _dough_.”

Toriel laughed as the two bickered for a moment, Alphys and Undyne shaking their heads in amusement. She cut in, “Okay, okay. I don’t mean to _cut_ in but I _crust_ you two can behave yourselves during the speech?” She giggled as Sans laughed in genuine delight, and Papyrus shouted in frustration.

“Oh dear, what has happened here?” Asgore set a grumpy Flowey down on the table, and Tori merely laughed in response. Frisk smiled at their goat parents, glad to see them getting along. The two still had their fights and strong disagreements, but they were trying to work out a co-parenting plan for Frisk’s sake. They made it pretty clear that they didn't have any intentions of getting back together, though.

“Sans and your clone are making those awful puns again!” Papyrus threw his arms up in the air in exaggerated annoyance, making everyone else laugh at the display. Asgore chuckled, “I am not all that surprised by this. They certainly know how to _piece_ together a good pun or two.”

Papyrus’s eyes bulged at the king’s pun, “Not you too! I am going to go find Mettaton before any of you can make another awful pun! I cannot believe the Great Papyrus has to suffer through such awful humor!”

They laughed as Papyrus stomped off, most of the group sitting down in their selected seating. Frisk gave Asgore a greeting hug. “Are you nervous dad?” Asgore chuckled, releasing Frisk from the hug after a moment. “Perhaps a little. Speaking in front of all those people is rather scary sometimes little one.” “Like when I talk in front of the class! But you’ll do great!” Asgore smiled at the child’s kind words, patting their head in fondness.

“I am not the one to be nervous, however. It is those receiving the rewards I imagine are having a harder time.” He nodded in Undyne and Alphys’ direction.

“What are we even wasting our time on here anyway?” Flowey huffed, disgruntled at having to be out of the house and surrounded by so many strangers.

Frisk lit up and rushed to Flowey, grinning at him. “Dad’s going to make a speech in front of monsters and humans about all the important jobs they had down there! Then he’s going to call them up and hand out medals for their work, seeing as most of the jobs are no longer needed here on the surface. Cool, right?!”

“Tch, sure. If you say so. All I hear is I’m going to have to suffer through hours long of boring speech.” He rolled his eyes in clear annoyance, “I could have been at home playing my games instead of here listening to some dumb speech about the importance of different monsters with stupid titles or whatever.”

“That wasn’t very nice of you.” “Well I’m not a very nice monster, am I Frisk?” He grinned at them while they pouted.

“Come on, if you behave, I’ll give you some of my pie!” He hesitated before huffing, “Fine. But only for the pie.”

“Well then, now that that’s settled, why don’t we go ahead and get ready, yes?” Tori clapped her hands together with a gentle smile. Asgore nodded, heading towards the stage to talk to some people while she went about distributing the pie. She chuckled as she shook Sans awake, who had managed to pass out in his chair during the earlier dispute.

It wasn’t too long before the audience was called to attention by Asgore awkwardly fumbling with an active mic. He blushed bright pink before giving an awkward smile and clearing his throat. “H-Hello, humans and monsters alike. Thank you for coming out today to celebrate the freedom and service that many brave monsters have provided for us.”

He chuckled as the crowd burst into applause. “As monsters, we had many different jobs and laws underground than here on the surface. So much so that something had to be done. Monsters have agreed to forfeit much of their culture, as have humans for the sake of harmony. And so today, we are here to celebrate those that served, and to recognize we would not be where we are today without them.”

Cheers erupted from the crowd, making Asgore chuckle and try to soothe them with some hand gestures.

“As many of you may know, there were very important roles assigned to a few people. And I promise we will get to them all very soon. But I ask for you all to have some patience, seeing as we have a lot of ground to cover starting with the sentries.”

People cheered once more, and Undyne chuckled at all the hype surrounding even the smallest of jobs. She watched as several monsters were called upon to receive their medals, starting with the overly excited dog pack.

When Sans's name was called, Papyrus had to shake his brother awake to go up and get his four different medals, one for each post. His mini-speech was filled with awful puns, causing Papyrus to cringe audibly. It was quite fun for most monsters.

The rest of the awards went smoothly, the sentries leading into the rest of the Royal guard and eventually the captain. Undyne clapped R1 and R2’s shoulder on her way up to the stage in congratulations. She beamed at Asgore as she stood next to him, confident in herself as ever.

“I present to you Undyne, the captain of the Royal Guard! She’s been a huge help to many monsters, including myself. Without her, the Underground would have most likely been lead to ruins. With a kind heart and tough exterior, she led all of the Royal Guard as a singular unit. She also personally trained many of them.”

Asgore smiled in pride as the two gave the audience a chance to calm down. She then stood forward, grinning sharply at the people and proudly giving her speech, helped of course by her amazing girlfriend.

When it was time for Alphys to go up, the little group made sure to cheer extra loud for her. And after her mini-speech, Asgore gave her a pat on the back. Then he turned back to the crowd, waiting for Alphys to depart the stage.

“Alright, alright settle down now. We have not quite finished. I… Well, I had a few secret jobs throughout the underground as well. Some I’m sure many of you are aware of, such as the Judge. But others…

“Well, I had two spies around to keep an eye out for any humans or monsters trying to sabotage the Underground.” He rubbed his neck sheepishly.

“Not to worry, however, for I promise they were trust-worthy. In fact, they were both war veterans and dear friends of mine.”

He smiled and waved Gerson and Grillby up, presenting them both with a medal. They had no speech to make, seeing as this was a surprise reveal. But they accepted the awards none-the-less, showing gratitude for the high honor.

Once they left the stage, Asgore hesitantly went over the rest of his secret branches, feeling a bit of guilt over them. Spies, psychologists, secret engineers, and numerous others. But he knew what everyone was really excited about. It was typically the talk of the Underground when trouble stirred up.

“Now then, for the reveal many of you have been waiting for since the passing of our beloved ex-judge. The new judges' names. Yes, you heard me right. Names. A set of twins were born with the sacred power of a judge. This is the first instance of this happening ever in recorded history.” Murmuring broke out in the crowd, and Frisk noticed that Sans and Papyrus tensed a bit and glanced at each other.

“This next medal goes to the two Judges, defenders of the Underground. ‘First Belief’ and ‘Final Hope’. Or, as everyone better knows them, Sans and Papyrus Serif.”

The effect was almost instantaneous, a pause before a loud outcry erupted from the monster part of the crowd. Papyrus quickly ducked under Undyne’s arm attempting to grab him, picking up his brother and hopping onto the stage.

Asgore cleared his throat, finally getting the rowdy crowd to settle down. “It is true that Sans and Papyrus were the sacred Judges. I know that it’s a shock, but please try and be civil. They were sworn to secrecy, otherwise, their entire work could be compromised.”

“Yes, it is rather true that my brother and I are the two Judges. However,”-Papyrus straightened up, to make himself appear more confident- “that does not mean we are different people. It’s just like having another job on the side. My brother is still very lazy and loves his ridiculous puns. And I am still very great!”

He placed his hand upon his chest, cape somehow still blowing despite there being no wind. Sans nodded, one eye lazily open and decidedly not looking at their main group of friends. He knew they were shocked by this revelation. Probably hurt too, not that he could blame them.

There was a pause before someone in the crowd cheered, many others following suit. What surprised the two brothers was when Undyne whistled and smiled at them, their other friends mostly clapping along.

Frisk was shocked to say the least, as was their ghost buddy Chara and plant friend Flowey. “All this time, and we only knew about the smiley trash bag?!” Flowey growled, slamming his head into the table below him. Chara stared blankly for a moment before smacking his head. “I can’t freaking believe this. They were both Royal Judges?! This whole time?! Does Papyrus know about resets then?”-Chara looked at Flowey in alarm- “Does he know about us?”

As the three had their meltdown, Sans and Papyrus accepted their medals and left the stage. They quickly got bombarded with affectionate noogies and questions. It was kind of dizzying for the two. “If Undyne stops giving the Great Papyrus a noogie, he promises to tell all his amazing friends about it later!” Papyrus whined as Undyne continued the affection for a moment longer before letting him go.

“Welp. That was way too much hype for me, ‘m takin’ a nap.” Sans plopped onto his chair, eyes already starting to close. “Oh my God Sans don’t you dare! You know Asgore is just about to finish up! I absolutely refuse to carry you to lady Asgore’s home! Are you even listening brother?!” Papyrus’ eyes bulged out of his sockets as Sans pretty much ignored him in favor of sleeping in his chair. He was seemingly out like a light in no time.

Undyne smiled as she sat back and watched the two brothers interact with one another. She nodded to herself, sure that despite this new confession, they were still relatively the same brothers she had grown to know and love as best friends.

Once Asgore finished talking, he departed from the stage and made his way back over. He tried his best to ignore the people attempting to grab his attention.

“I can’t believe you knew about this the whole time and didn’t say anything!” Undyne grinned at the fluffy push-over with an air of respect.

“What I can’t believe is that you had us train for this for such a long time, made yourself and us absolutely sure to never share this information, and then just announce it without so much as a heads-up in our direction.” Sans looked unimpressed with the King’s decision, idly staring through one eye socket.

Said King chuckled, rubbing his neck, “Yes well, I was debating on revealing it or just holding a private ceremony. I decided last minute to go ahead so that everyone could celebrate together since secrecy is no longer needed on the surface. I suppose I could have still let you know, I just forgot.”

“Of course you did.” Sans dead-panned, shaking his head and decidedly going back to sleep. Papyrus gave an incredulous look at his brother’s weird sleeping habits but didn’t say anything more on the matter.

“I just can’t get over the fact that you dweebs were the sacred, oh so powerful Judge this whole time!” Undyne threw her head back and laughed. Her girlfriend also chuckled, “I-It is a bit s-surprising. B-but I suppose it makes s-sense. It c-certainly explains some th-things about you two.”

“Oh my god, it totally does! You dorks! You had all of us fooled this entire freaking time!” “U-Undyne calm down befo-ore you s-suplex the table” “I can’t! It’s just so freaking cool!”

Papyrus broke into a sweat and quickly dashed forward to keep his friend from breaking another piece of public property. “Undyne! We already had to pay for the last one! Would you please just calm down before the Great Papyrus has to apologize to the owner again!”

“Oh dear. It seems those three certainly have their hands full.” Toriel chuckled before facing the Monster King. “I suppose you made the right call, telling their friends about this. I admit I was quite shocked, but more so worried about how the others would react. They have some good friends, do they not?” “We do.”

She smiled at him, and Chara sat to attention with an excited look. Flowey would never admit to looking as well, but Frisk wouldn’t hold it over either of their heads. They knew that the two just wanted their parents back together.

“I must say, they are rather young to hold the Judge’s title.”-she placed her hands together as she glanced at the two- “Did something happen to Veda?” “I’m afraid she has fallen.” “Oh, how unfortunate. Whatever has happened to her?” Asgore sighed sadly, “It was an illness that struck her down. But not to worry, she had a good home leading up to her passing.” “That is good to hear. I a-”

“Queen and King of monsters right?! I was wondering if you had the time for a mini-interview regarding today’s speech!” A human excitedly cut them off, and Frisk glanced at Chara nervously. He looked very pissed off, “I’m going to make them suffer.”

Frisk glanced around in case anyone was watching before turning to him. “Hey calm down, there’s always next time. Besides, at least they’re friends now, right?”

“Who are you talking to human?” Frisk jumped as Papyrus stood over them, smiling down. They chuckled nervously, “P-Papyrus! U-um no one? Just myself.” “Very well then! Would you like to accompany the great Papyrus in moving food to the car?!” “Sure! But only if I get a bite!” “Of course you will human Frisk! And we can move that lazy bones while we’re at it.”

They giggled as they nodded, grabbing as much food as they could and helping Papyrus move it to his shiny, new car. It wasn’t long before the group was ready to leave, making Frisk smile as they viewed all the gathered people.

“Hey, mom?”-they tugged on Toriel’s sleeve- “Can I ride with Sans and Papyrus?” “Hmm… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt anything. But do be careful, alright dear?” They grinned and nodded, grabbing Flowey and running up to the skelebros in excitement.

“Oh, human, all set?” “Uh-huh! Mom’s fine with me riding with you!” “Well then, let us be off!” Papyrus grinned, setting his sleeping brother in the passenger seat and buckling him before hopping into the drivers. He managed to evade all of Frisk’s curious questions by promising to tell them all about it once they were home.

It wasn’t long before they parked at Toriel’s, right next to Undyne’s van. Papyrus shook Sans awake before the small group headed inside, greeting the other monsters around. It was a rather pleasant evening for all of them as they hung out and congratulated one another.

Toriel and Papyrus eventually called everyone in for dinner, having extra chairs and other things of the like set up so that everyone would fit.

“It looks great you two. I a _peas_ iate it.” Sans laughed along with Tori, while Papyrus looked nonplussed. “Sans! We didn’t even make peas tonight! Why must you make those _corny_ puns?!” “Pfft-. Good one bro!” “What?”-He quickly realized what he had just done, pulling a face- “Nyoooo! How could I stoop to such low-brow humor?!”

“Oh, but what would dinner be without a few puns _peppered_ in?” Tori beamed at the table. “A very great one!” Papyrus crossed his arms and nodded his head. “C’mon Tor, you’re _kale-ing_ me here.”

“Oh? Well, that wouldn’t be _ripe_ of me.” Papyrus cut in, “Please _lettuce_ enjoy a good meal with minimal puns!”

The two punsters snorted but otherwise nodded their heads. “Very well dear, we’ll try not to make any more _cheesy_ puns.” She laughed along with her partner in crime before ending the pun exchange as promised. There was a pause of simply enjoying the divine food before Undyne cleared her throat.

“So… what even is the Royal Judge? Like, I know it’s some kind of honor, and that they have to let you pass to see the king, but that’s about it.” She leaned back in her chair, picking at her teeth for a moment.

Asgore opened his mouth, but Sans cut him off, “Are you all really that interested?” After receiving several nods, he sighed. “Alright, but buckle up. It’s gonna be a long story.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update everyone! Crap happened but here I am with Chapter two! I'm so sorry if this turned out bad.
> 
> Also, HUGE thank you to PaintedImagery for making the cover art, and for beta reading! Really, they're amazing!

**The Royal Judges Chapter Two**

“And so you see, I simply cannot continue any farther research in human souls. There’s been too many incidents, Asgore.” Gaster sighed, looking at his King with a tired gaze. “I’m… I’m so sorry. I know I told you I’d do what I could about this mess so that you wouldn’t have to slay another human that fell down. I really didn’t wish for this, but I can’t anymore. I understand if-”

Asgore cut his dear friend off with a soft chuckle, “It is alright Gaster. I understand more than you think. You just… have more important priorities in your life now.”

He looked across the flower field at the two skeleton children playing, feeling a bittersweet pain well up inside his chest. Gaster followed his line of sight and gave a soft smile as he watched his kids fall over in laughter.

Asgore cleared his throat, “Aside from that, let us talk about what this means alright? I will not remove you from your position as my Royal Scientist.” Gaster nearly choked on his tea, looking up at Asgore quickly. “But-!” “Gaster, I still need you. Do you think that you were just useful in the soul trait experimentation? The Underground still needs your brilliance for as long as you are willing to give it, my friend. Of course, if you truly do not wish to keep your job th-”

“No no, I’d love to keep it! I-I mean.” Gaster rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “Thank you, King Asgore. It means a lot to me.”

Asgore chuckled, and opened his mouth to say something more but was cut off by tiny hands pulling on his own. He looked down with a fond smile as Papyrus stood in front of him, Sans shyly smiling behind his brothers back.

Gaster looked down to see what caught the King’s attention and sighed. “Boys, please return to playing. The King and I are having a very important conversation right now an-”

“Sans wants to spar!” Papyrus beamed up at the King while Sans looked betrayed and lightly pushed Papyrus’s back. “Do not! Papy does!”

Asgore chuckled as Gaster rubbed the bone between his sockets, cutting the kids off before they could argue anymore. “Now now children, there is no need to fight over this. I do not mind sparring, so long as you are willing to listen to your father.”

The two skeletons bounced in excitement, nodding their heads and running off to wait for the two adults to finish speaking.

“I am so sorry.”-Gaster dusted his vest out with a sigh- “They just have a bad habit of getting into trouble.”

“It is no problem at all Gaster. It’s nice to see the children growing. Why! I remember when they were barely old enough to spark their eye lights!” Asgore gave a full belly laugh at the memory as Gaster sank down in his seat, blushing a vivid purple.

He smiled at the poor skeleton, “Don’t you recall my friend? You nearly had a heart-attack when little Sans started eating his own foot.”

“Yes, well. If you are quite finished making fun of me, I believe you have two mini-warriors waiting to fight you.” Gaster crossed his legs and took a sip from his teacup, hiding his smile.

Asgore glanced over at the bright-eyed children, “I suppose I do, don’t I? Very well then, I shall return to capture you, princess! After I’ve gobbled up the two knights!”

His voice was loud enough to carry over to the two boys, who perked up and laughed. Gaster was decidedly unimpressed with his new title, yelping as Asgore picked him up and placed him on the throne.

He shivered, feeling so out of place on his King’s throne. He remembered a time where monsters had turned to him in the King’s absence of despair. He never wanted that weight of responsibility to settle on his shoulders again.

Thankfully, he was knocked out of his thoughts when the three began their play fight.

Papyrus took the front assault, sending a small wave of bones straight for Asgore who easily could have evaded them. Instead, he pretended to be hurt by them and dramatically fell on one knee.

Gaster rolled his eye-lights with a fond smile as Papyrus quickly apologized and ran up to check on him.

Asgore grinned to himself, waiting for the right moment before releasing a playful roar and swooping the child up.

“You’re mine now little knight! All mine!” The King of all monsters proceeded to blow a raspberry into Papyrus’s stomach, making him squeal with laughter and call on his brother.

Asgore looked down expectantly, only to notice the smaller child was not to be seen. He heard giggling from behind and turned to see Sans proudly leading Gaster to the other end of the flowers.

“Well well well! It seems we have a sneaky one! You won’t get away from me so easily!” Asgore let Papyrus go and “charged” forward, fully intent on scooping the child up while sending harmless fireballs for show upwards.

He allowed Sans to get some hits in as well, knowing it wouldn’t damage him all that much. As soon as the first one hit, however, he fell onto his knees for real. Tears streaked down his face as blood flashed across his vision.

Distantly, he recognized the concerned calls of his friend and the two children crying. But it was hard to hear through the muffled filter that seemed to be placed over his ears. He stared down at his hands, coated in so much blood, in complete shock. And the voices that flooded him. He curled into himself further when those small, distant memory voices started whispering to him. He did it, he’s killed, children and adults. Innocent people. He was a murderer, a coward. He-

He was being held by Gaster, and the throne doors were thrown open as two guards rushed in. Sans was crying in Papyrus’s protective hold, who also looked scared despite trying to put up a brave face. And just like that, he was back to his senses and sitting up slowly.

Gaster pat Asgore’s face in worry, “Are you alright? You just fell over and I thought that you were hurt.” “Gaster” “What happened? Was it th-”

“Gaster I’m alright. It’s okay, see?” Asgore placed his own much larger hand over Gaster’s, calming his friend slightly. He also beckoned the children forward after waving the guards off, wrapping them in a hug with his other arm.

Gaster took a shaky breathe “What. Happened?”

“My friend, I believe we’ve found the next Judge.” Asgore looked at Sans, a mere child, with a sad smile.

Gaster physically recoiled as if stung, “What?! No! Sans can’t be-… I-… No. I will not allow such a thing. He has one HP Asgore! One! What you are suggesting is-”

“-Is true.”-He cut his friend off before he could say something regrettable in front of the children “Despite how bad it sounds, the universe has picked him. He has KR flowing through his magic my friend.” “No. I-I can’t-” “Calm down and listen to me. We’ll have him speak with Veda, and she’ll give him the best training in the Undergrou-”

Gaster suddenly stood, pulling his boys away and shaking his head. “No! Asgore, I will hear no more of this- this foolishness! Boys, we’re going home. Say goodbye.” Gaster crossed his arms with finality and looked away.

Asgore sighed but stopped pushing it for the moment. He didn’t want to scare the poor children more than they already clearly were. Instead, he swooped them up into a full hug.

“Bye children, I’ll see you again soon alright?” He smiled reassuringly at them, despite the situation.

“O-Okay… Bye…” Papyrus returned the hug, confusion, and concern shining through. Sans on the other hand said nothing, only hiding his face in the King’s shoulder. Asgore’s heart clenched as the smaller of the two silently sobbed.

Once he set the children down, they trailed over to their father’s side hesitantly.

Gaster sighed after a moment of hurt anger, rubbing the top of Papyrus’s skull, “I-… I’ll see you Monday Asgore. Come along kids.”

He picked Sans up in one arm and held Papyrus’s hand as he started to leave. He couldn’t even bring himself to toss a glance in the King’s direction, caught up in his troubled thoughts.

It pained Asgore to have the interaction end there, but he knew that he had to let things play out on their own with Gaster. He was a smart but stubborn monster. Once he’s made his mind up, it was hard to change it.

Asgore also understood the pain behind the mere idea of what he had suggested. He wanted his friend to live out the innocent family fantasy for as long as he could, knowing how much it meant to him…

Back at the present day, Undyne cleared her throat to pull everyone’s attention towards her. “Not to interrupt or anything, but what the heck is KR? And why is it so important? Also, what did you do to Asgore?!” She pointed an accusing finger at Sans.

“My dear please have patience. I’m sure all will be explained in due time.” Toriel smiled reasonably across the table at her.

“I-… fine. But I want answers! Tonight.” Undyne huffed, crossing her arms to give off authority.

“Of course, don’t let your patience run _fin_.” Sans grinned cheekily as Toriel gave an undignified snort and the others groaned.

“Brother please try and take this seriously.” Papyrus sighed, picking his fork back up.

“I’ll _tie knot_ to get _hooked_ on any more puns, but I have a _sinking_ feeling that they’ll _lure_ me in again.” Sans dissolved into snorts and laughter as Papyrus’s eyes bulged out of his sockets in that weird display only he could do. Papyrus may not have appreciated all the fish puns, but Toriel sure did. She, however, did straighten up. She was very eager to get back on topic.

“I know it is difficult to _tackle_ my friend, but I think we can do with- _trout_ as many puns.” She smiled as he calmed from laughter with a small nod and a final snort, clearly in a much better mood.

Papyrus looked more pleased with this deal, but felt the need to add, “Those were both awful attempts at puns.”

“Someone sure is _crabby.”_ Everyone’s eyes bulged at Undyne who looked up when she noticed the silence. She blushed, “What?! I can appreciate a good pun or two!”

Papyrus looked betrayed, “No! Undyne not you too!”

“I guess we _reeled_ another punster in!” Sans was so proud of this moment, wiping a tear from the corner of his socket.

“Sans that didn’t even make any sense!” This was the worst day of Papyrus’s life. Ever.

Asgore smiled softly, “If it is not too much to _bass_ -k, I think it is for the better that we finish this story. Frisk needs to head to bed on time tonight.”

Undyne chuckled with a nod, “Yeah, I guess the _shrimp_ needs their sleep.”

“You are all terrible!” Papyrus tossed his hands up, making Frisk giggle a little more than the puns. Count on Papyrus to make anything amusing.

Alphys broke it all up before it could get any more out of hand, “A-alright. S-sans, stop trying t-to make _anemone_ and j-just _fin_ ish this _tail_.”

Sans snorted and tried to keep his chuckles down, while Papyrus huffed but kept his musings to himself this time.

“Where was I? Oh, right.” He nodded to himself before continuing from the skeleton family's point of view.

A little Papyrus pulled on Gaster’s hand, who was sitting with his head in his arms at the table. The scientist looked down with a raised brow-bone, “What is it Papyrus?”

“Daddy. Why is sans mad at me? H-he kept crying and telling me to go away.” Papyrus looked teary-eyed.

“What? Oh Papyrus, not to worry. I’ll go speak to him and see what’s wrong. Whatever it is, I assure you it’s not your fault.” Gaster sat up and rubbed the top of his son’s skull. After he was guided to the brother’s shared room, he left Papyrus alone in the hall and entered.

His soul felt like it shattered when he opened the door to find his son curled up crying on the beat-up bean bag they had salvaged from the dumps. He sighed, already having an inkling of what this was about. He shut the door, fully aware that the other twin was still going to listen in anyways, and made his way over to Sans.

He picked Sans up in a hug and sat down, pulling a face as his butt uncomfortably sank into the half pillow-stuffed chair. He would have to look into a more comfortable solution for the deflated cushion. But that could wait, as could everything else at the moment.

He looked down at his child clinging to his chest silently, and wished to get to the bottom of this quickly. He didn’t want his poor baby suffering any longer.

But, he knew how to work with Sans, and simply remained quiet. Instead, he sat and rubbed his back while humming absently, waiting for him to share what was on his mind.

Finally, Gaster’s patience was rewarded.

“It’s my fault, Isn’t it?” Sans refused to meet his eyes, more interested in the lines on Gaster’s sweater.

Gaster sighed, “Sans, I cannot give you any advice until you specify more.”

“I mean, it’s my fault that everyone got upset all of a sudden right? I-I shouldn’t have hit Asgore with an attack, especially not with its weird glow that started forming, a-and-”

Gaster cut his child off, “Sans. I assure you with all my heart that none of that was your fault. I promise you did absolutely nothing wrong. It was just… a disagreement between him and me.”

“But why? We were just playing. It was only after I hit him that you two started fighting. I-I didn’t mean to hurt him.” Sans had a whole new wave of tears cascading down his face.

It was at this very moment that Gaster remembered how old Sans truly was. Despite his maturity and intellect, he was still just a child at the end of the day. He cooed softly, hugging him closer.

“Listen to me Sans, you did nothing wrong. He jumped to a conclusion he had no right to. And… I admit I was rather short-tempered with him. And maybe needlessly cruel…” He realized how bad he was making himself sound by the look on Sans's face.

Sans giggled weakly, “Uh-huh. Asgore says you’re always silly like that.”

“Of course he did. As I was saying. Nothing that happened today was your or your brother's fault. It was mine and Asgore’s. And, everything will be alright again. The old fool probably forgave me the moment I left.” Gaster shook his head fondly, knowing how true his words rang.

“And It is not as if we haven’t fought before. It is nothing that two baby bones who should be getting ready for bed should worry about.” He grinned as he tickled Sans after nuzzling him.

Sans giggled, nodding and sliding out of bed before rushing into the bathroom.

Dadster chuckled, watching him go before looking at the door expectantly. “You too Papyrus. I know you’re listening. It is time to get cleaned up for bed.”

It took only a moment before his taller child walked in stiffly, “Yes! It is I the Great Papyrus who was not listening in! I had the best idea! To get ready for bed! Which I came up with entirely on my own. Okay! Night dad!”

Gaster snickered as Papyrus rushed by into the bathroom, before looking at Sans’s astronomy book nearby with a frown. How bad did he have to mess up to make one of his children feel as if they were that much of a problem? Despite the irony, he felt so low right now.

He sighed, picking up the book and stuffing it away for the moment before pulling the sheets back for his kids. It would seem as if a Grillby visit was in order for the morning. Papyrus would enjoy a milkshake, and Sans could do for some good company. Perhaps Fuku would even be at the place. Sans would probably enjoy that.

Not to mention Gaster himself. He knew that he could go for some fries right about now. And some good advice from his old friend.

He nodded to himself, deciding that a fun day out was in order. They could also stop by some shops on their way in, to take their minds off the rather poor day they had.

“You look silly nodding to yourself.”

Gaster jumped a mile high before turning, facing Papyrus in alarm.

“Papyrus you silly bones. I did not see you there. Come along now, into bed. Your brother should be out in just a moment.” He smiled softly, helping Papyrus up and under the covers.

Papyrus rolled his eye-lights, “He’s too slooooow.”

Gaster raised a brow bone, chuckling softly in amusement as Sans trailed in. He picked up Fluffy Bunny, a painfully dumb book, and settled on the edge of their bed.

He spared a thought to the fact that he should probably start encouraging Sans to actually use his own bed once the smaller one had climbed in. But it was quickly demolished as he shifted his attention to making the story as engaging as possible.

He wasn’t too proud of the fact that he didn’t even need the book to tell the story anymore. He supposed hard times just called for those sorts of things though, and that almost any monster parent probably had at least one book they begrudgingly knew by heart.

Despite how dumb he felt, he made silly voices and motions. It was worth it, after all, to see the reaction of his children. It was even funnier when Papyrus smacked his hand over Sans’s mouth when the smaller child started to snore softly.

Once he had read through the book, he simply sat and watched his children sleep with a fond smile and some skull-rubs.

It was hard to imagine that only a few years back he was alone. And he would have scoffed in your face for even mentioning the possibility of him having a child. After all, he was the Royal Scientist. He had no time for children or lovers.

And, despite the unfortunate circumstances that lead to their birth, Gaster wouldn’t trade it for the world.

It was something else entirely to have children of your own, throwing whatever views and schedules you used to have off-balance. He sighed softly, thanking the accidental mother silently for his two blessings before standing up and exiting the room.

It was as he started washing the dishes from their lunch before they had gone to visit the King, that he began to think upon what Asgore had stated. It made him tired even considering it, and despite how much he wanted to deny it, his non-existent gut was telling him that he needed to listen to his friend more.

Though, that was nothing new. He was a very prideful monster after all, and often paid the price for it. He looked up, for once in his life sending a wish to the wishing stars all the way in Waterfall.

They could have Gaster, they could have his job, they could have the Underground but not his babies. He just wanted his two children to live happy lives that they got to choose. He hoped it was all just a misunderstanding, he really did.

But he knew, somewhere within his soul, that Asgore had spoken the truth. He turned a blind eye to the warning, however. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to pay the price this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was it?
> 
> Also again, HUGE preesh to PaintedImagery. You can find them here:
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/paintedimagery
> 
> Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Ah yes. Dialogue, my old enemy. Send help, I think it's winning.  
> Sorry if this was just flaming trash. As I said, it's been a long time since I've even tried to write decent fanfic.
> 
> Thanks for reading the first chapter! Let me know if you enjoyed it or not! Until next time!  
> -WrittenNovelty


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